disneyfandomcom-20200223-history
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer, artist, cartoonist, inventor, screenwriter, songwriter, musician, film director, and producer, who was best known as the creator of the Muppets and the founder of the Jim Henson Company, which is now run by his children. He was known for some of his Muppet characters such as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, the Swedish Chef, Waldorf, the Muppet Newsman, Link Hogthrob, and Mahna Mahna. He also performed Ernie, Guy Smiley, and others on Sesame Street, Cantus the Minstrel and Convincing John on Fraggle Rock, and many other characters. Death and legacy In late 1989, Jim Henson made a radical change in his career. Wanting to become less of a businessman and focus more on the creative side of the production, he entered into talks with Michael Eisner to sell his company and characters (minus Sesame Street) to the Walt Disney Company. Two of his very last projects actually involved Walt Disney World in one way or another. On May 6th, 1990, The Muppets at Walt Disney World premiered, as a special about the Muppets going to Kermit's home swamp and soon after, Walt Disney World. The other last project was Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D, a three-dimensional attraction currently located at Disney's Hollywood Studios. After Henson's sudden and untimely death, negotiations went awry, and Disney didn't acquire the Muppets till February 2004, which it now controls through the wholly owned subsidiary The Muppets Studio. Jim became infected with a very rare bacterium called Group A streptococcus in May 1990 that was discovered too late for him to receive proper treatment. He died at 1:21 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16th, 1990, approximately 20 hours & 23 minutes after checking himself into the emergency room at New York Hospital, not realizing how sick he really was. Steve Whitmire then took over for Kermit the Frog, only months after Jim passed away, then he took over for Ernie in 1993 to Frank Oz's Bert on Sesame Street. Waldorf, in 1992, had been taken over by Dave Goelz. Starting in 1991 the role of Dr. Teeth had been officially taken over by John Kennedy, however, the character only had made brief appearances with very little dialogue. However, following his death, Rowlf the Dog was kept completely silent until episode 2 of Muppets Tonight, on which Rowlf broke his silence thanks to the vocal help of Bill Barretta, who now voices the Swedish Chef, Mahna Mahna, and Dr. Teeth, as of 2005. According to FindAGrave.com, Henson was cremated, & his ashes were scattered at his ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jim Henson's legacy is carried on in different forms today. Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop) owns all the Sesame Street characters and continues to experiment with its format. However, in 2001, they lost the rights to Kermit, as he was mainly part of the Muppets. As noted, the Walt Disney Company owns the Muppet characters & continues to use them in new productions. Fortunately, the Jim Henson Company itself, under the guidance of Henson's children Brian, Lisa, & Cheryl, John, & Heather, continues to release new material, including Creature Shop films and original content. In 2011, Jim Henson was posthumously awarded the Disney Legends award at the D23 Expo in 2011. His oldest son and daughter, Brian and Lisa, accepted it on his behalf. Muppeteer Credits *''The Muppet Movie: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef *The Great Muppet Caper: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, and the Newsman *A Muppet Family Christmas: Kermit the Frog, Ernie, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, the Newsman, Guy Smiley, and a penguin *The Muppets at Walt Disney World: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, and Link Hogthrob Various logos Jhc.gif 300px-Jim_Henson_Pictures_logo_svg.png 1000px-9a2fBHqr5J2xSuitruCdZA13997.jpg 290px-529px-Logo_jh-pictures.jpg Buddy-movie-poster-1020209182.jpg jhp.jpg Gallery Jimsmickey.jpg Wiki.main2-1-.jpg|Henson with his five main Muppet characters, Kermit, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef, and Waldorf. Tms cast season 1.jpg Jh cameo orange show.jpg Eisner.henson_(1).jpg|Jim Henson (left of Kermit) with Michael Eisner (middle) and (from right to left) Mickey Mouse and Miss Piggy Wof Jim Henson.jpg Themuppets2011 jh cameo.jpg Jim Henson Banner - 2.jpg Jim Henson Banner - 1.jpg D23-LisaHenson-JimHensonDisneyLegends-(2011-08-19).jpg D23-BrianHenson-JimHensonDisneyLegends-(2011-08-19).jpg Dinosaurs-dedication.jpg BHAN-Heson.png Henson-Oz-Nelson-Hunt-Goelz-Whitmire.jpg|Clockwise: Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, and Richard Hunt Jim_Henson_Mickey_Mouse_watch.jpg|Jim Henson wearing a Mickey Mouse watch on the set of ''Muppet*Vision 3D. Kermitmourns.jpg|Kermit mourns Jim Henson on his chair External Links *Muppet Wiki: Jim Henson nl:Jim Henson pt-br:Jim Henson Category:Directors Category:Disney Legends Category:Muppet performers Category:Males Category:People Category:Deceased Category:Voice actors Category:1930s births Category:1990s deaths Category:People from Mississippi Category:The Muppets Category:Star Wars Category:Dinosaurs (T.V. series) Category:Screenwriters Category:Producers Category:Musicians Category:Singers Category:Songwriters Category:Singer-songwriters Category:Actors Category:American people Category:Muppet Treasure Island Category:The Muppets (film) Category:Disney's Hollywood Studios Category:Muppet Babies Category:Puppeteers Category:Lucasfilm